Alumni Leaders: Joy Chen

Urban Planning graduate has become international best-selling author and voice of Chinese women

The unofficial motto of the UCLA Luskin School of Public
Affairs comes from its dean, Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. Oftentimes he says that
students and alumni from UCLA Luskin are “changing the world — one place, one
project, one person at a time.”

Joy Chen is taking on a slightly larger role in her efforts,
adding “one generation” to that refrain.

“I’m interested in changing the world, which is a carryover
from my Urban Planning days,” says Chen, a 1998 graduate of the program, “but
the way I’m changing the world is by helping women in China.”

Which initially was odd for Chen, who was born and raised in
America. Despite her stateside roots, her book aimed at a generation has become
an international success in transforming the culture of women in China.

Do Not Marry Before
Age 30 challenges years of Chinese tradition that instructs women to get
married early and have children, erasing most thoughts enjoyed by their
American counterparts who are free to place education and career success ahead
of marriage and family.

Chen’s best-selling book, released last summer, has helped
empower women in China who were previously viewed as “leftovers.”

“The purpose isn’t to persuade people but to start
conversations about women that need to happen — how they can unlock their own
potential and make their dreams come true,” Chen said. “This generation of
women are living in an in-between period. There is the tradition telling women
their role in life to be a wife and a mom, but this generation is educated.
Because of all the education of women, they have new dreams for their lives and
careers and dreams for love.

“I think the central question facing modern women in China
is how do they sort out this huge social pressure? They’re sorting through all
that and trying to figure out how to carve out their own path as women with
their own dreams and own ideas.”

Chen didn’t set out to become a writer, although that title falls
short in describing her role at this point in her career. The success of Do Not Marry Before Age 30 has turned
her into a media star in China, and Chen now hosts television shows, writes
magazine columns, produces Internet “websiodes” — which are far more watched
than regular TV because of the Chinese government’s control over standard
television. As a result, she refers to herself as a “full-time media creator in
China.”

This new career is actually Chen’s fourth since graduating
from UCLA Luskin. After a successful stint as a real estate developer, she
served as a deputy mayor for special projects in L.A. Mayor James Hahn’s
administration, all before she became a corporate headhunter, landing CEO’s for
major companies.

On the side she began writing a blog, based on her
headhunting experience, about how to climb up in global companies. It became
quite popular as Chinese students who were attending universities in America
began sharing the site with each other.

One day Chen wrote a post titled “Do Not Marry Before Age
30” and, as she puts it, “it went crazy.

“It was passed all over the world, through the Chinese media,
and I had all this new incoming traffic that my server crashed,” she says.

She wrote from experience, too, as she was a successful
single woman, earning her Deputy Mayor title at 31 before becoming a headhunter
at 35. “I had 20 years of dating experience, which was more than anyone in
China,” she said.

She was soon contacted by one of China’s top publishers
about writing a book along the same lines.

“As a headhunter, I started getting headhunted,” she says
with a laugh.

Chen kept the publishing company at arm’s length for a year,
saying “I still had a lot of doubts about how, as a Chinese-American, I could
write for women in China.”

During her second maternity leave in as many years Chen was again
contacted by the publishers. This time, she thought, she might as well jump.

“I said as long as I am on maternity leave, I could turn it
into book leave,” said Chen, who spends a few days a month in China doing all
of her media work and in-person meetings, but mostly works from her home in
Pasadena. “I had had two maternity leaves in two years and probably couldn’t
take another one, so if I was going to write this book, I better start writing
it now.”

She never went back to work as a headhunter.

The first portion of the book helps Chinese women understand
themselves and revel in themselves, according to Chen. Then she employs her
headhunting experience to help them find Mr. Right, the same technique she used
to find her husband, Dave.

“The final chapter,” she says, “is about loving the world
and how to become happy through changing the world.”

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